Their Girls
by Valkyrie Elysia
Summary: Taiyang comes home from a teacher's conference and comes across an adorable scene, which gets him thinking about the past and the present.


**V.E.: Hello there RWBY fans! I'm Valkyrie Elysia and welcome to my first fic in this neck of the woods. My mind has been wondering a lot and while I do love the stories I'm writing right now; I really do want to do stuff in other fandoms.**

 **I started watching this series on whim, not knowing what I was getting into. Have to say, I consider it worth it. One of the things that really interest me that we don't know much about is Team STRQ and their dynamics with each other. I was thinking about the relationship between Taiyang and Qrow and that led to this little idea.**

 **If any of this ends up being proven false by later episodes, I won't mind.**

 **Quote: "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."-Desmond Tutu**

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As Taiyang Xiao Long finally saw the lovely little house that he called home after a LONG weekend in Atlas, only one thought was running through his mind.

 _Note to self, make sure to always arrive early to faculty meetings from here on. That way, I won't get 'volunteered' for another teacher conference._

Still, he felt his mind relaxed as slowly trudged his way up to the house. Between the massive meetings, the cronyism of some of the teachers from Atlas, as well his own presentation (once again cramming in the mere hours up until show time); the small Grimm fight on the way back home had actually been one of the _less_ stressful parts of the weekend.

Now with his home in sight, he finally felt himself truly relax. He loved his house ever since they moved in after graduation, he honestly couldn't see himself ever wanting to leave (other than obvious possibility of the Grimm overrunning it, but he tried his best not to imagine that happening). It was cool in summer, snug in the winter, a perfect two story house for a small family.

Even if was missing two somebodies.

Just as that train of thought crossed his mind, Taiyang stopped that train of thought. _No, not tonight._ Tonight, he was home safe and about to see Qrow and the girls. This was not the time to think about Raven and Summer and spend the rest of the evening in a haze of grief and depression.

He'd spent too many nights like that already.

Coming up to the door, the blonde haired purple eyed man went to his pocket for his keys. Pulling out the collection of keys he had accumulated, he was going through them and just about to put the house key in the door when he heard the locks undone and the door opened slowly with no one there.

He warily leaned in closer, not wanting to get caught in another prank if it was one (he still had yet to get back at Qrow for teaching Yang the chicken prank they had used back during their time at Beacon).

A bundle of black and white dropped to the floor behind the door and slowly came out from behind. A corgi stood right in front of the blond haired man, his tail wagging as he gave a happy little bark.

Taiyang smiled, his mind relaxed and knelt down to pet the devoted little dog. "Hey Zwei, you miss me?"

Zwei barked in affirmation before proceeding to give the tanned man's face a good deal of doggie kisses. He laughed at the enthusiastic welcome. Initially, he hadn't been happy when Qrow had gotten him the little pup. Regardless of his…. past emotional issues, he did not need a service dog to kee him from going off the deep end again! But the girls had been instantly smitten with the pup and three puppy dog eyes were impossible to say no to (Qrow also batted his eyes pleadingly, Taiyang told him that if he ever saw him try the puppy dog look again he'd punch his lights out). After a while, he warmed up to the corgi and now the sight of him never failed to cheer him up.

Taiyang looked around the darkened doorway with the furniture and pictures noticeable if not fully seen in the dark. In short, everything looked exactly as he left it which was always a gamble when he left the girls, the dog, and Qrow alone. "I guess they've all gone to sleep already."

Zwei barked, getting his attention as the corgi made its way over to the stairs. Realizing the corgi wanted him to follow, he left his suitcase by the door that he closed, turned on the upstairs light from downstairs, and made his way up the steps with the little dog leading the way.

Coming to the upstairs with the pictures of family and old friends on the simple beige walls, the corgi made his way right to the door of the girls' room. Trying to be as quiet as possible, the blonde man turned the knob and opened the door slowly.

The sight that greeted him was probably one of the sweetest things he had ever seen.

On the floor, Qrow was sitting below the window with his head leaning back and a book of fairy tales lying on the floor. By the position of his hands, he seemed to have been reading it before succumbing to slumber and the lack of a familiar scent made it clear to Taiyang that he had been doing it completely sober (which the Branwen male sworn up and down would never happen). On the left, Yang was using her uncle's leg as a pillow as the peaceful expression on her face made it clear that she was in dreamland as well. On the right, Ruby was wrapped in her red cloak like a blanket as her sleeping body leaned into the warmth of Qrow's chest.

It took everything in Taiyang not to laugh. _This image is just priceless…_

Realizing he had prime picture material right in front of him, he quickly got his Scroll out of his pocket and positioned it to take a shot.

Just as he was about to take the picture, he stopped as he took a really good look at Qrow. He looked younger, more carefree, and at peace. In that moment, he could imagine himself back at Beacon and finding his teammate catching a nap in the courtyard between classes.

Sometimes it was hard for him to remember how Qrow used to be, back when they had been younger and had their own ideas of what being Huntsmans/Huntresses would be like. The warrior of the greatest team to ever graduated Beacon had turned into a cynical bastard that needed alcohol to get through the day. Not that Taiyang could blame him, having gone through his own attempts at trying to drown out the nightmares and the grief.

Besides, part of that bitterness was his fault.

His purple eyes then went to his blonde first born. Despite having his hair color and eyes, Yang was starting to look more and more like her mother which was something that gave Taiyang a lot of mixed feelings. Thankful, her personality was a lot more of an even mix between the two so it wasn't too painful to be reminded of Raven through her most of the time. That same personality, however, came with its own share of problems. She was an expert at looking for trouble and was incredibly determined. He had tried his best to shy away from her questions about her mother, but he knew that that had just made Yang more curious to know about the woman who had left them.

Ruby, on the other hand, was a carbon copy of her mother in appearance, but completely opposite personality wise. While Summer had been quiet, thoughtful, and never took any real delight in battle; Ruby was exuberant, somewhat rash, and had a thirst for combat. Unlike Yang, she was not as into 'girly' things and was more interested in weapons that boys (something that probably should have alarmed him more if he wasn't incredibly thankful that he wouldn't have to worry about boys for some years).

The girls were so much their mothers and at the same time so completely different from them. At times, Taiyang wasn't sure what to think or what to do as a single dad to two daughters, but he managed as best he could.

Qrow was practically a third parent to the girls, Taiyang could always see the love in his brother-in-law's eyes when he was around them. But there were other things he could see in those red eyes.

Guilt.

Regret.

And whenever he caught Taiyang's eyes on him, anger and bitterness.

To a stranger, these emotions would have been confusing. But to him, he knew why.

Qrow and him hadn't been the closet in their Team STRQ days and had been known to have their disagreements, often causing a lot of collateral damage during their spars. Even after they mellowed throughout the years and managed to put a lot of it aside for Ruby and Yang's sake, there was still a lot of anger, bitterness, and resentment between the two.

And a lot that could be traced back to their other two teammates.

As Raven's brother, the two had been the closest, often seeming to fill in each other's thoughts and actions on the battlefield. Qrow hadn't been the most thrilled when he found out the they were dating, but stayed out of it most of the time since he believed his sister could take care of herself. When he found he was going to be an uncle, he promptly punched Taiyang before congratulating him.

After she disappeared, both Qrow and Summer did their best to help him out, even if he was practically dead on the inside. And even though he never said anything, to this day he always got the feeling that Qrow knew exactly where Raven was and what she was up to. Sometimes he wanted to shake the dusty old crow down for answers and other times he wanted to talk about anything else because he was afraid of what those answers were. It was hard to admit it, but even after all these years he never truly got over Raven.

Which led into an even bigger problem.

Looking back, maybe he started things with Summer because he wanted Yang to have a mother and to get his mind off of Raven. In hindsight, it was incredibly selfish. He wasn't proud of the way he treated her in the beginning, before she had been his lover she was his leader and his friend and she deserved better than that.

Even though she never said it, he got the feeling Summer knew.

But back then, he hadn't really thought about that. Just like he hadn't thought about Qrow.

Qrow who was still technically his brother-in-law and Yang's uncle.

Qrow who was his teammate and Summer's partner.

Qrow who had been in love with Summer for years.

Even though he had never said anything to her, it was obvious what Qrow's feelings were. Whether it was helping out in her weakest subject, playing assistant in the kitchen, or putting himself in the line of fire; Qrow Branwen was willing to do anything for Summer Rose. Taiyang knew that, Raven knew that, everyone in their year at Beacon knew that, and he was pretty sure all their former teachers knew that! The only person who hadn't noticed it was Summer herself.

He would never forget that look on Qrow's face when they told him they were a thing.

First, there was the confusion, then that shifted into polite blankness, and then when Summer left them alone to check on Yang's crying it was an explosion: anger, jealousy, sadness, betrayal. He left the house without saying a single word to Taiyang.

He knew in that moment that this was something Qrow would never forgive him for.

Even after Summer's death, when the two pulled together for the girls, it remained a mostly untouched subject between the two.

It really was those two girls that kept those Taiyang and Qrow together after everything that had happened. Ruby and Yang were the people they would do anything for, no questions asked.

Taiyang always made sure they spent time with their "Uncle Qrow" whenever he came back from a mission. When that happened, he liked to sit in the background and watch them, watch the little bits of the Old Qrow come out with them, the daughters of the women Qrow loved. To him, they were practically his daughters, his world. And Ruby and Yang loved him in return.

As their father, he supposes he should feel jealous that his girls seem more comfortable around Qrow then him. But honestly, he doesn't mind sharing them.

They were their girls, no questions about it.

Bringing himself back into the moment, he sighed and put his Scroll back into his pocket. That got Zwei's attention.

He simply smiled and motioned out the door. "Come on buddy, let's let them get some more sleep."

Zwei seemed to understand what his human was saying as he quietly made his way out the door as Taiyang closed the door silently, leaving the sleeping trio none the wiser.

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 **V.E.: I actually finished a one shot…. wow it has been awhile!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed it and sorry if I was skimping a bit on the details.**

 **Please leave a review! My next one shot should be in this fandom as well. Until next time!**


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